A Preemptive Strike
by Zynali
Summary: He told himself that you didn't just forgive someone for killing you, at least not more than once, even if that someone was a vampire. Damon/Alaric, takes place after 3x11.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: ** _This story diverted me from my other stories and insisted on being written, so here it is. It will be short (most likely three chapters) and is much more character/relationship-driven than plot-driven. It is a Damon-Alaric story that takes place after 3x11, so it does not include anything from the latest episode. I've tried to be consistent with canon except for one not-so-little detail, which is that Damon's not in love with Elena - he's in love with Alaric. (Stefan and Elena might also have ended up a bit OOC, but the story's not really about them anyway.)  
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_This story is rated M for slash (mostly not too explicit) and language._

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own _The Vampire Diaries_ or any of the characters. This story is purely for fun.__  
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**Chapter 1**

They found Damon right where Klaus had said they would, in yet another of the strange caves under the Lockwood property. A day ago, Klaus had apparently decided to stop playing nice in response to Stefan's threats, and he had decided that Damon might be the only person that Stefan still cared about. So he had taken Damon.

_Tell Stefan that if he doesn't return my family, next time he'll find his brother in even smaller pieces._ That was the first message that Klaus had given Elena, and it had sent them all into a frenzy of searching for any sign of Damon. Bonnie's locator spells turned up nothing, Caroline's vampire senses turned up nothing, Stefan still didn't return Elena's desperate calls – and Alaric was left with a horrible sense of helplessness. And guilt.

The guilt was because he hadn't forgiven Damon for snapping his neck in a fit of pique. He told himself that you didn't just forgive someone for killing you, at least not more than once, even if that someone was a vampire. And even if that vampire was crazy good in bed.

Damon had kept sniffing around, kept trying to apologize in his own way that was never quite an apology, kept flirting and buying Alaric drinks. Even Elena had noticed that Damon was upset. "I think he misses you," she had said to Alaric, and Alaric had known damn well that Damon missed him. He missed Damon, too, way more than he wanted to admit even to himself, but that wasn't the point. Damon wasn't stable and being with Damon wasn't safe, even if it had occasionally felt that way. Trusting Damon had been a bad idea, and how could Alaric be with someone he couldn't trust? So he hadn't forgiven Damon, even if he had to keep working with him on Operation Save Elena and Mystic Falls from the Biggest, Baddest Vampire of Them All.

And now as he stared at what Klaus had left of Damon, Alaric's guilt warred with anger and horror at the sight in front of him. Damon hung limply from chains bolted into the ceiling of the cave. His weight had dislocated both shoulders, but that was the least of their problems. Damon's body was riddled with stakes, probably a dozen total, and he had bled – was maybe still bleeding – from every one of those wounds. His clothes were torn to rags, and those rags were soaked in his blood. Blood had pooled at his feet, so his shoes and socks were black with it from where he dangled there, clearly long past being able to keep his feet under him. His face was surprisingly untouched, but he was shockingly pale even for Damon.

Impossibly, Ric thought he had seen Damon's eyelids flutter when they rushed into the cave, as though some remaining vampire instinct had said that they could be a threat and he needed to wake up, but now Damon was clearly unconscious. Ric thought that was a good thing because he couldn't even imagine the pain that Damon had to be in. He had heard the little sound of horror that Caroline had made at the sight of the sheer quantity of stakes and blood, and he was vaguely aware that Elena was now throwing up in a corner, with Bonnie trying to comfort her. He didn't think that any of the girls should really be there, but Elena was the one to whom Klaus had sent the messages so of course she had insisted on coming along. And with Damon captured, Caroline and Bonnie were what passed for muscle in their little group, so Ric found himself standing in a cave with three teenage girls – admittedly a vampire, a witch, and a doppelganger, and how fucking weird was his life? – staring at the bloody, broken body of the vampire who had been his friend and lover.

It was Caroline who spoke first, beyond Elena's choked "Damon" when they had first glimpsed his body. "We need to get the stakes out," the blond vampire said quietly, and Ric realized in horror that she was right. He was supposed to be the experienced hunter here, and he had been too shocked and stunned to help his friend. If Damon had any chance of surviving, they needed to get those stakes out. Caroline had moved forward to grasp the first of the stakes, but she squealed and jumped back as soon as her fingers touched it. "Vervain," she said, and Ric's heart sank even lower. If the stakes had been soaked in vervain, then Damon's situation was even worse than he had thought.

But Caroline's words and movement had woken Ric from his shocked stupor, and he immediately stepped forward and began to pull out the stakes, one at a time. There were an even dozen, nine driven into Damon's torso from the front or the back, two in one thigh, and one in the other thigh. Klaus had been careful to miss Damon's heart, but Ric didn't think that had been out of mercy. No, hitting the heart would have killed Damon and ended his suffering, and Klaus had clearly intended to maximize Damon's pain.

Damon whimpered once as Ric pulled out the stakes, but that and the blood that leaked anew from each wound were the only signs that he was alive – or whatever passed for alive among vampires. Ric felt another wave of fury at Klaus, and at Stefan for putting his brother in the middle of his feud with the Original. He tossed the last of the stakes viciously against the wall, needing an outlet for his anger. He had almost forgotten about the girls, but he heard Elena make a little squeak of surprise as the stake hit the wall hard. Then Caroline stepped forward again. She reached up on her tiptoes and easily snapped one of the chains that had held Damon suspended. Ric thought absently that the vervain on the stakes hadn't been only to torture Damon, but also to make sure his friend stayed too weak to break free.

Caroline snapped the second chain, and Ric grunted as he caught Damon. The vampire was dead weight in his arms, and another chill ran through his body. How much torture could even a vampire take?

"We need to get him out of here," Bonnie said, looking anywhere but at Damon's bloody form.

"I can take him," Caroline said, but Ric shook his head. He knew it would be easier for Caroline to carry Damon, but he wanted to do it himself. He felt another surge of guilt. He had left Damon alone. Rationally, Ric knew that he would have been worse than useless in preventing Klaus from taking Damon, but it didn't stop him from feeling terrible that Damon had had no one to help him when the Original had come for him. Damon was strong and fearless, but he hadn't stood a chance against Klaus and the proof of that was the heavy weight of his body in Ric's arms.

Ric followed Caroline and Bonnie from the cave, with Elena bringing up the rear. Damon's blood was covering his hands now and soaking into his clothes, but Ric hardly cared. "Hang on, Damon," he whispered even though he knew Damon couldn't hear him.

He heard Elena's voice from behind him, small with fear. "Is he going to make it?"

Ric didn't know what to say that wouldn't be a lie. Poor Elena had lost almost everyone she cared about, and he wondered if she could handle losing anyone else. He wondered if he could. "I don't know," he finally said. "He's tough," he added, as much to give himself hope as Elena. Damon had to make it. As angry as Ric had been at the vampire, he hadn't pictured a world without Damon walking around flirting with everyone and making his snarky comments. Damon had become a fixture of his world – a weird fixture, but still a fixture – and Ric didn't want to imagine Mystic Falls without Damon.

They finally made it to the car, and Ric realized that they really had too many people to fit comfortably even in the SUV that theoretically sat seven. The backseat would be too crowded with Ric, Damon, and one of the girls, so after a moment's hesitation he maneuvered Damon's body around to the back. "I'll hold him back here," he said. "My keys are in my pocket." He shifted his hip to signal to the girls, his arms aching too much to put Damon down and lift him again. When did Damon get so heavy anyway? He wasn't a big guy, after all.

Elena reached tentatively into Ric's pocket and extracted his keys, careful not to touch anything, and Ric suddenly thought about how Damon would do the same thing. How he would smirk, and make sure to touch everything he could, and make some comment that dripped with insinuation. . . . He shook off those thoughts as Elena hit the button to pop the trunk, and Bonnie moved the bag of weapons aside. All his weapons had been real helpful, Ric thought sarcastically as he finally set down his burden. In the light of day, Damon was even more pale and bloody and utterly, utterly still than he had looked down in the cave, and they all froze for a moment at the sight.

This time it was Ric who forced himself into motion first. "Caroline, you drive," he ordered. "Get us home quickly – but not too many bumps."

The blonde vampire nodded seriously, and Ric climbed into the trunk with Damon and gathered his lover up into his arms. It reminded him for a moment of all the times Damon had climbed onto him or curled against him after sex. Damon was surprisingly fond of cuddling, and he would make this sensual little purring sound as settled himself against Alaric. Sometimes he would try to rile Ric up for a second round, teasing Ric with hands and mouth and that flawless body until the teacher gave in, and other times he would just fall asleep, seeming utterly content in a way that Ric had never seen in another context. Ric had learned the hard way that Damon wouldn't take teasing about his tendency to cuddle after sex. Whenever Ric had brought it up, Damon would be up and dressed and gone within minutes – or throwing Ric out if they were at the boarding house – so Ric had learned to keep quiet and just enjoy the feeling of Damon's body against his. He had decided that Damon craved the connection of those moments after sex, even if the vampire would never admit it.

But all those other times Damon had been warm and squirmy and so very alive for someone who had been dead for 147 years. Now Damon was terrifyingly still and unresponsive as Ric held him. He stroked Damon's thick, unruly hair away from his temple like he had a dozen times before in far more pleasant contexts. "You're going to be okay, Damon," he whispered, hearing the desperation in his own voice and feeling the tears in his eyes. "You're safe now. We'll be home in a few minutes, and we'll get you some blood."

He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he thought maybe Damon had whimpered again and moved ever so slightly, pressing closer to Ric. The noise of the engine and the road as the SUV zoomed along the rough back roads of Mystic Falls made it impossible to know for sure. But a moment later, Ric realized that Damon had started to shake uncontrollably in his arms. "Can vampires go into shock?" Ric asked aloud, not really expecting an answer. "Because I think Damon's in shock."

"I don't know," Bonnie answered seriously. "Caroline?"

"I don't know either, okay? I've been a vampire for like five minutes." The stress and fear was audible in Caroline's voice.

Elena had turned around in the back seat, and Ric made the mistake of meeting her eyes for a moment. Her big, brown eyes were terrified as she saw the tremors wracking Damon's whole body. "Maybe he's cold," she said. She sounded like _she _might be in shock, too, but Ric didn't have enough emotional strength to worry about Elena just then.

Ric could hear her rummaging around on the floor of the backseat, and a moment later she was passing him an old blanket. Ric took it and draped it over Damon's shaking form, drawing him even closer in the process. He had never known Damon to feel the cold, but there was a first time for everything. "Hang on, Damon," he murmured again, his arms locked around the vampire.

They had been fools, Ric thought, not to bring blood bags with them for Damon. He knew that he and Elena had both had vervain in their coffee that morning – it was one of the few precautions they could take to protect themselves against Klaus, after all, especially after what he had done to Jeremy – and he would never ask Bonnie to let Damon feed from her. He was pretty sure the witch wouldn't agree even if he did. And in truth, it would be risky as hell to let Damon feed from a living person when he was starving and unconscious. He could very well drain someone dry without even being aware of what he was doing. But if Damon died because Ric had been too stupid and panicked to pack a cooler of blood bags . . . well, he didn't even want to think about that.

The drive seemed to take forever, even though Ric knew they were moving far faster than the police would have approved of. It was a good thing that the truck was being driven by a vampire who was also the sheriff's daughter, he thought slightly hysterically. Panic was rising in him at the thought of Damon dying in his arms, bleeding out in the back of his truck. How much blood did vampires have? Because Damon had lost a ton of blood. Ric moved aside the blanket and part of the ruin of Damon's shirt, trying to see if his wounds were healing, but it was too dark to tell in the back of the truck.

He could hear Elena on her phone, leaving a message for Stefan. "We found him, Stefan," she said, and her voice broke. "He's . . . he's in really bad shape. _Please_ meet us at the house. This is all your fault, and Damon needs you." Ric thought she had hung up the phone before whispering the next words. "I need you."

The car was silent after that, and Ric was pretty sure this was the longest Caroline had ever been voluntarily silent. Damon was still unconscious and shaking like a leaf, and Ric could still only hold him helplessly as he felt the tears start to fall.

Ric had tried to tell himself that this thing with Damon was just temporary. He was grieving Jenna's death, and Damon was hot and interested. Not to mention a century and a half of practice had made the vampire a fucking revelation in bed. He was scratching an itch, Ric had told himself at first, and he would get it out of his system and things would calm down and he would get his life back on track and go back to dating humans. He had never answered the question of how exactly he would extricate himself from his affair with Damon, especially since Damon was, after all, a vampire who was prone to obsessions. But he had told himself that he didn't really feel anything but lust for Damon – nothing real, anyway.

He had, of course, become increasingly aware that he was lying to himself, that for all of Damon's flaws, he was falling for the sarcastic, narcissistic bastard. And he had begun to strongly suspect that Damon had feelings for him, too. Of course, their relationship hadn't changed much. They still argued and drank too much and snarked at each other, but the sex became more frequent and so did spending the night afterwards. He got used to waking up with Damon, to blue, blue eyes and a very talented mouth and a quickie in the morning before school. But then Damon had betrayed his trust in the most horrifying, inhuman way possible. Cheating he would have understood – they had never said they were exclusive, and Damon was probably the biggest flirt Alaric had ever met. But no, Damon had killed him.

And Ric had been forcibly reminded that Damon was not, and never would be, human – or trustworthy. He still wasn't sure why Damon had done it, what he had been thinking, and in truth, he wasn't sure Damon even knew himself.

But now Damon was probably dying, and he would die thinking that Alaric hated him when the reality was just the opposite. As he held Damon's bloody, mangled body, Ric realized that his feelings had never gone away, no matter how strongly he had tried to suppress them. He was in love with Damon fucking Salvatore.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** _Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, and story alerts on the first chapter! I haven't had a chance to respond to all of them yet, but I really, really appreciate every one. This second chapter took a little longer than I expected, but here it is._

**Chapter 2**

They pulled into the driveway of the boarding house, skidding to a stop and throwing up gravel in the process. Alaric did his best to cushion Damon against the sudden stop, although he didn't really think that hitting the side of the truck would be the last straw that would kill Damon. The back opened a moment later, and Caroline was there. She held out her arms to take Damon from Ric even as Elena and Bonnie came into view. Ric hesitated. He had an irrational desire not to give up his hold on Damon, but there really was no way to gracefully maneuver both himself and Damon out of the truck.

Caroline didn't wait for Ric to figure out a way to move, lifting Damon effortlessly away from him and heading for the house. Ric had no choice but to scramble after them. Elena opened the door – it was a good thing Damon never seemed to lock his doors – and Caroline deposited Damon on the nearest sofa. Damon's shaking had finally subsided, but Ric didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. At least the shaking had been movement of some kind; now Damon again lay unnaturally still on his back on the couch. Ric could hear Elena's footsteps pounding on the old house's creaky stairs as she raced down to the basement. She was back a minute later with a handful of blood bags.

Ric was kneeling beside Damon by then, and he took the blood bag that Elena handed him. He noticed that her hand was unsteady, and once again, he wished he had any words of assurance to offer. "Thanks," he murmured uselessly. The blood bag had a tube sticking out like a straw, and he awkwardly nudged Damon's mouth open and maneuvered the tube between his teeth. Nothing happened.

"Shouldn't he be drinking or something?" Bonnie asked, voicing what they were all thinking.

Caroline had a little wrinkle of worry on her forehead. "He should smell it and drink," she said. "When you're hungry and you smell blood. . . ." She stopped, apparently thinking better of whatever she was going to say. "Maybe he can't smell it," she continued after a moment. "Although I can smell it from here." She plucked one of the other blood bags from Elena's hands and tore into the plastic. She handed the bag to Ric. "Here try this."

Now Ric was holding a blood bag that was torn open at one corner. He tried not to spill any of the blood as he pulled the tube from Damon's mouth and tried to tilt the blood bag to pour it slowly down Damon's throat. Could a vampire choke to death on blood? Could a vampire choke to death at all? It was messy and awkward, but after a moment he saw Damon swallow. Then with no warning, black capillaries appeared around Damon's eyes and his fangs suddenly descended. Ric jumped and almost dropped the blood bag, spilling a good amount of it. "Fuck," he cursed. Damon hadn't moved, and he hadn't woken up, but apparently the taste of blood had triggered the change on reflex. "I've never seen him do that before," Ric explained as Caroline tried to hide a snicker of laughter. He'd seen Damon's vampire face before, of course, but never with a blood bag involved – usually, in fact, when Damon had bitten him during sex, which he was not about to explain to three of his students.

"Sorry," Caroline apologized a second later, still giggling. "It's just funny that. . . . Never mind. Damon has really good control," she explained as she got her laughter under control. "So just the smell or the taste of blood doesn't usually affect him, but he's obviously kind of out of it right now. He's just operating on instinct, probably."

Elena looked a little shaken, too. "At least he's drinking," she said, and Ric had to agree with that. Caroline tore into a second blood bag since Ric had spilled half of the first one on Damon, and Ric switched them out as he squeezed the last of the blood out of the first bag. "But why isn't he waking up? Or at least moving?" Elena asked quietly.

Ric shook his head. He didn't know, and it was making him really nervous, too. He just wanted Damon to open his eyes.

"Maybe it's the vervain," Caroline said slowly. "If he got a lot of vervain in his body, he might not be able to move."

They all watched silently then as Ric poured a third and then a fourth blood bag down Damon's throat. Other than the change in his visage, Damon still hadn't reacted at all, and he gave no sign that he would wake up any time soon. "Shit," Ric said after the fourth bag, too scared to even worry about cursing in front of his students. "I don't know what to do," he admitted. He brought a hand to his face in frustration, forgetting that his hands were covered with blood.

There was a long pause before anybody answered. Damon's face had shifted back to human now that Ric had stopped feeding him, and his head lolled to the side. Ric felt a weird sort of relief at seeing the more familiar version of his lover. He thought Damon's color looked better now, unless it was a trick of the lighting of the boarding house, but the vampire's complete stillness was unnerving to say the least. Ric wanted to open what was left of Damon's shirt to see if his wounds were healing, but he felt weird doing that in front of the girls. It wasn't like Damon would care, he reminded himself. Damon was the opposite of shy or body conscious – he would happily parade around naked if anyone would let him – but it still seemed somehow too intimate. And Ric was scared of what he would find, scared that Damon might not be healing.

Finally, Bonnie filled the silence. "Maybe he just needs time. I can . . . look for a spell or something."

"The vervain could be slowing down his healing, too," Caroline offered. "And I don't really know how long it takes to heal from that much damage. It would help if Stef. . . ." She stopped in mid-name with a nervous glance at Elena.

"I called him," Elena said. "I don't know why he isn't here. I know he still cares about Damon, even if he doesn't care about . . . anyone else." Her voice was small by the time she finished.

Ric shook his head. This was getting them nowhere. Damon didn't seem to be getting worse, which probably meant that Bonnie and Caroline were right and he just needed some time to heal. "I'm going to take him upstairs and get him cleaned up," Ric declared decisively. "Then we can give him some more blood if he isn't awake by then."

"Okay," Elena agreed, clearly glad that someone was taking charge, and the other two girls nodded as well. Normally, Ric thought guiltily, it was Damon who took charge or came up with a plan in a moment of crisis. Now they were going to have to find a way to help Damon get through this, and he just hoped he was up to the task.

Alaric picked up Damon again – who didn't seem to be getting any lighter – and carried him upstairs to the bathroom. He started filling Damon's deep soaker tub with water as he stripped off what remained of the vampire's ruined clothing. He tried to be as matter of fact as possible, blocking out the way Damon remained unresponsive as Ric maneuvered him into the tub. The water turned red with blood so quickly that Ric had to empty and refill the tub almost immediately, but as he checked the stake wounds on Damon's torso, Ric decided that they were healing, just slowly. The blood staining the water was almost entirely the old blood that had covered Damon's body, along with what Ric had spilled on him. But it wasn't all good news because Damon's face was still slack and his eyes remained closed.

Ric stroked the side of Damon's face gently. "Sorry no bubbles this time, buddy," he said softly, thinking of Damon's inexplicable fondness for bubble baths. "Damn it, Damon," he added when the vampire didn't respond. "You have to wake up. I can't do this alone." Ric could hear the stress and worry in his own voice.

Ric let the dirty water drain out of the tub again and ran a third warm bath to rinse Damon clean. His friend's wounds were definitely healing now. Most of them had stopped bleeding, although they were still raw and Damon flinched when he brushed his fingers over one. Normally Damon healed almost instantly, even from wounds caused by wood, although he would whine about still being sore hours later. Ric had never been sure how much of that was lingering pain and how much was Damon playing up his injuries for sympathy – or more likely seeking a kiss to make it better. He assumed there was only so much that even vampire healing could cope with, especially when Damon had lost so much blood. The vervain was an added complication, and Ric was just glad that Damon finally did seem to be healing.

When Damon was clean, Ric manhandled him out of the tub and dried him off. He found a pair of sweatpants at the bottom of one of Damon's drawers and put them on his friend before finally situating Damon in his bed.

Looking down at himself, he realized that he was covered with blood, too. Unfortunately, Damon's clothes wouldn't exactly fit him, but he used to keep some clothes here. . . . Ric crossed the room to the drawer that Damon had designated as his and opened it. Not only were his clothes still there, but they were folded far more neatly than he would ever have folded them. Damon had clearly been in that drawer since Ric had last opened it, and Ric paused for a moment to wonder what exactly that meant. Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts and grabbed a clean t-shirt and jeans.

He had just finished showering and changing when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in," he called out.

Elena walked in holding another couple of blood bags. "Stefan sent a text," she said quietly.

Ric stared at her. "A text?" he asked incredulously. Stefan's brother could be dying and he sent a text? "What did it say?" he finally asked.

Elena looked down at the floor. "It said 'Damon will be fine.'"

"He hasn't even seen him!" Ric exclaimed angrily.

"I know," Elena said. Her voice was still small. "I guess he must be doing something important."

Ric snorted. "Or he doesn't care. We might have to give up on Stefan, Elena. If he doesn't even care about Damon anymore. . . ." He trailed off.

"How's Damon doing?" Elena asked in an obvious effort to change the subject.

"His wounds seem to be healing," Ric admitted. "But he hasn't woken up."

Elena nodded, her face falling slightly. "That's good that he's healing, right?"

Alaric made a conscious effort to tamp down his anger at Stefan. "It's good," he affirmed. He tried to keep his own doubts from being audible in his voice. "A little more blood and I'm sure he will be fine." He took the blood bag that Elena handed him and carefully opened Damon's mouth. This time he didn't jump when Damon's face changed at the first taste of the blood, even though he had hoped that Damon might be back in conscious control of himself. He supposed that would require that Damon actually be conscious, which he obviously wasn't.

Ric took the second bag from Elena when the first was empty, and he forced that one down Damon's throat as well. Afterwards, he and Elena both stared at Damon for a long time, hoping that he would wake up. Finally Elena turned away. "I'm going to try calling Stefan again," she said. "There must be something else we can do. Even if he won't come, maybe he'll talk to me about it."

Ric just nodded. He heard Elena's light footsteps leaving the room, and then he was alone again, staring at Damon lying still in the bed. He looked small and alone there, and Ric was sorely tempted to just crawl into bed with Damon and hold him. But he reminded himself that just because he had realized that he still had feelings for Damon did not mean that it was a good idea – at all – to act on them. So he just sat there and watched helplessly as Damon slept and, hopefully, healed.

It was perhaps an hour later that Damon's eyelids fluttered, and Ric started into alertness. He saw a trace of blue as Damon opened his eyes partially, looking like his eyelids were too heavy to raise further. "Stefan," he murmured weakly, clearly not seeing the room around him.

Ric felt an irrational surge of disappointment that Damon had whispered his brother's name, not Alaric's own. Then he reminded himself just how ridiculous that was when he had shot down Damon's every attempt to get back together. "Stefan's not here, Damon," he said anyway.

Damon didn't seem to have heard him. "Stef," he repeated, his voice halting. "I didn't tell him. Didn't . . . tell him anything."

"Didn't tell who what?" Ric asked, confused. What was Damon talking about? Then he thought he understood. Damon knew where the coffins were. He knew the information that Klaus wanted so desperately, and Klaus had tortured him – either for that information or simply because he was a sadistic bastard. Ric was leaning toward the latter based on the messages that Klaus had sent to Elena. And Damon had held out even as Klaus had nearly killed him. "That's good, Damon," Ric said reassuringly. "You can rest now. You're safe."

"Hurts," Damon whispered, his eyes closing entirely again. "So tired."

"I know," Ric said. He took Damon's hand and squeezed it. "But you're healing now. You'll be fine in no time." Damon had fallen back asleep, and Ric sighed. At least Damon had regained consciousness, even if he hadn't exactly been aware. Hopefully that meant he was going to be okay. Ric didn't even want to think about any alternatives.

•••••

Alaric thought it had been less than an hour when Damon stirred again. Ric released the hand that he had been holding, occasionally stroking the palm or tracing the length of Damon's long fingers. Fingers that were so fucking talented when they played over his skin or stroked his cock – and Ric was trying not to think about things like that since he was damn well not going to let Damon know that he still had feelings for him. He wanted Damon to recover, yes, but that did not mean he was going there with the vampire again.

Ric thought he had let go of Damon's hand just in time as his friend opened his eyes. This time, to Ric's relief, he seemed to be aware of his surroundings. "Ric?" he said. His voice was still low and rough, but at least it seemed a bit stronger than before.

"Yeah, it's me, Damon," Ric said softly.

Damon tried to move, but he didn't succeed in doing more than shifting slightly on the bed. "Fuck," he muttered. "Klaus really did a number on me."

"Yeah, he did," Ric agreed. "Good thing you're a vampire with super-healing."

"Doesn't feel so super," Damon murmured. He looked puzzled then, as if something had just occurred to him. "What are you doing here anyway? Thought you hated me."

Ric sighed. "I don't hate you, Damon. And besides, someone had to play nurse."

Damon grinned. "Sexy nurse," he said weakly, and that faint hint of the usual Damon sent a wave of relief running through Ric.

"Don't you know it," Ric joked, suppressing an overwhelming urge to kiss Damon. That would be a really bad idea. All his reasons for avoiding Damon were still valid, after all. Damon was still a psychotic vampire who had snapped his neck for no reason, he reminded himself. This was just Damon's uncharacteristic helplessness setting off some fucked up protective instincts. "Don't even think about trying anything," he added, still keeping his tone light.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Damon replied. He closed his eyes with a small smile on his lips.

Ric shook his head, amused in spite of himself. Of course, practically the first words out of Damon's mouth after nearly dying would be flirty comments. Sometimes it seemed like flirting came as naturally to Damon as breathing. Make that more naturally, Ric thought with a snort. But Damon seemed to finally be feeling better. After a moment of hesitation, Ric slowly pulled back the sheet from Damon's chest, and sure enough, Damon's skin was smooth and unblemished. Alaric closed his eyes in relief. He had never been so happy to see the near-miraculous healing ability of a vampire.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** _Here is the next installment. I think there will be one more chapter after this one - I didn't quite get to the end yet with this one. Once again, my deepest thanks to everyone reading this and especially those who took the time to review!_**  
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**Chapter 3**

Alaric had lost track of how much time had passed, and he realized with a start that he had picked up Damon's hand again and returned to stroking it. Would it really be so bad to offer Damon physical comfort right now? Ric was tired himself, and he could just curl up in the huge bed with Damon. "_That_ is a slippery slope," Ric reminded himself aloud.

Damon's voice came from the bed then. It still sounded disturbingly weak to Ric's ears. "What is?" the vampire asked.

Ric suppressed a groan. Of course, Damon would hear _that_ of all the things that he had mumbled to himself over the preceding hours. "You and me," he admitted after a moment. He promptly regretted his honesty.

Damon's blue eyes opened wide at that. "Very slippery," he agreed with almost his usual flirty insouciance. "Sliding is fun, and it's nice at the bottom." Ric thought he heard a trace of hope in Damon's voice.

"Maybe for you," Ric muttered.

"You liked it," Damon argued.

Ric shook his head, secretly pleased – make that ecstatic – that Damon was sounding and acting more like himself. But now that Damon was clearly back in his right mind, they had shit to work out, especially since Ric had very much been thinking about sliding down that slope again. After a moment, Alaric just blurted out the question that he desperately needed answered. "Why did you kill me that day, Damon?"

There was a long pause, and Ric didn't think Damon was going to say anything. Finally, however, he spoke in a low voice. "It was a preemptive strike."

That didn't exactly clear anything up. "Against what?" Ric asked incredulously.

Once again Damon was silent for a long time. "Feelings," he eventually said.

Ric opened his mouth to object to the seeming non sequitur, but he shut it again when he realized Damon wasn't done.

"You didn't have my back that day, with Elena and the Council," Damon said softly. "And I was angry, and . . . scared I guess." Damon looked like it had been physically hard for him to add that last part.

"What do you mean 'scared'?" Ric asked.

Damon shook his head. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Damon, tell me," Ric pushed. He wanted to hear this, maybe _needed_ to hear this.

But Damon had clammed up. "Never mind," he repeated. "It was nothing." He turned away from Ric, and Ric had a sinking feeling that Damon was done talking. But then Damon surprised him. "It's okay, Ric," he said quietly. "I understand why you haven't forgiven me. And you shouldn't." His voice had faded gradually as he spoke, but then he added, "I don't deserve it." Damon lay quiet and unmoving then, still facing away from him.

"Damon," Ric began, reaching out to touch Damon's shoulder and convince the vampire to turn back to face him and finish that conversation for once. Damon owed him a better answer than that, after all. But then he stopped, realizing with a start that Damon had slipped back into an exhausted sleep. The defeatist quality of Damon's voice and words scared him. Damon never stopped pushing, never stopped fighting – Ric had always considered it one of his friend's more annoying personality traits. He realized then that he didn't want Damon to stop fighting for them, because if Damon stopped fighting then they really were over. And Ric didn't want that.

Ric stood there for long minutes, staring at Damon as he slept. The vampire was fucking beautiful, of course, with his messy black hair, long lashes, and high cheekbones. His strong jaw was covered with more stubble than usual since he hadn't shaved since probably the morning before Klaus had captured him, but Ric's eyes lingered on Damon's perfect lips. They had regained their usual pink color, and they were parted slightly as he slept. He looked almost normal, almost recovered from what Klaus had done to him. But there was a fragility to Damon in that moment that Ric wasn't used to seeing, a vulnerability that Damon usually kept deeply buried. Damon was such a big personality, such a strong presence, and it hurt to see him damaged. Damon needed him right now, Ric thought, and as much as a little voice in his head was screaming at him to keep as much distance between them as possible, he couldn't _not _be there for Damon.

The problem was that it didn't seem like he would ever get an explanation for why Damon had snapped his neck, and he needed to understand what had gone so terribly wrong. He thought about what Damon had said. A preemptive strike against feelings? That didn't make any sense, even for Damon Salvatore. Damon-logic at its best, Ric thought with a snort of derision. Then again, Ric realized a moment later, he had spent the past few hours, days, even weeks trying to deny his own feelings. Maybe it wasn't so different. Alaric had gone over that day again and again in his mind since waking up gasping on Damon's couch. He and Damon had clashed a couple of times, first over the way Damon had been encouraging Elena's crush on him and showing every indication of enjoying the attention and then over the Council meeting and Damon's plan to target Bill Forbes. They had even argued over something as stupid as a proposal to put vervain in the town's water, which had sounded like a good idea at first – until Ric realized that it really would force Damon to leave town since the vampire wouldn't even be able to take a shower.

And suddenly it almost made sense. Damon had said he was "scared," and Alaric realized that Damon had been scared of his own feelings for Ric and scared that Ric didn't return those feelings, particularly since he thought Ric didn't support him that day. Normally they could fight and then make up later. Hell, that was half of their relationship. But that day Damon had snapped – which was not okay, but they were all under a ton of pressure, Damon even more than the rest of them. And he was a vampire, after all, and a vampire who didn't exactly have a history of his feelings being returned. Alaric had known that Katherine had fucked Damon up badly, but he suddenly thought that maybe he hadn't understood just how badly until now.

With a sigh, Ric crawled into the bed and pulled an unresisting Damon into his arms. "I guess I forgive you," he murmured into Damon's ear even though the vampire was still asleep and wouldn't hear.

•••••

Alaric woke up to find Damon pressed against him, just like he used to do when they spent the night together. It felt so familiar, and so right, that Ric just drew Damon closer to him. Apparently he couldn't fight the pull that he felt toward Damon, and just then he didn't want to. He didn't know how long he had lain there, enjoying the feeling of Damon's body relaxed against his, when Damon stirred.

For a moment Damon just looked at him with the most adorable sleepy expression, then suddenly the vampire jerked out of his arms, putting distance between them on the bed. "What is this?" Damon demanded. "Don't fuck with me, Ric."

Ric gaped at Damon in shock. That was not the reaction he had been expecting. "I'm not," he said. "I wouldn't do that."

"You told me we weren't even friends anymore. And you flirted with that woman at the bridge-fundraiser-thing," Damon countered.

It took Ric a moment to even figure out what Damon was talking about. Then he remembered. Dr. Meredith Fell. Yes, he had flirted with her, and he had spent the whole time watching for Damon's reaction out of the corner of his eye. "I was trying to make you jealous," he admitted reluctantly.

"You shouldn't do that," Damon said. He still looked suspicious. "I'm a vampire with impulse control issues."

Ric rolled his eyes. "I get that." He couldn't help the next line that came out of his mouth. "I gather it worked?"

"Maybe." Damon dragged out the word teasingly. "Does this mean you still want me?" Ric noticed that Damon's eyes didn't match his light tone. There was a flash of hope there, but it was carefully guarded. Damon was still wary.

That wariness warned Alaric that he had to be careful. He decided to go with honesty. "Yes, I still want you," he admitted.

He had barely gotten the words out before Damon had closed the short distance between them on the bed. Expressive blue eyes locked intently with his, and they absolutely shown with hope now. Ric knew he was a complete sucker for those eyes, and he tried his best to convey his desire – hell, his love – with his own far less remarkable blue eyes. He might not be ready to say the words, but he wanted Damon to understand that he wasn't joking around. And Damon seemed to have gotten the message because a second later he was kissing Alaric. It was an uncharacteristically gentle kiss, although Damon quickly deepened it as Ric kissed him back, letting all his relief and fear for Damon disappear into the vampire's hot mouth as their tongues tangled.

But Damon surprised Ric by sinking back down beside him after just the one kiss. Ric raised an eyebrow, trying to act normal even as he felt another surge of worry. It wasn't like Damon not to push things as far and as fast as possible. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"No energy," Damon admitted, sounding rueful.

"Don't sound so surprised," Ric said, forcing down his own disappointment. "You nearly died, Damon."

"I think you're missing the meaning of this whole vampire thing. Already dead, Ric."

Ric rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean. You had twelve stakes in you just a few hours ago."

Damon winced slightly. "Twelve, huh?" Ric must have looked surprised or doubtful, because Damon added. "What? It's not like I was counting when he staked me."

The last thing Ric wanted to think about was what Damon must have been going through as Klaus tortured him. "Do you want some more blood?" Ric asked as a change of subject.

Damon gave Ric one of his most flirtatious looks. "Are you offering?"

Ric shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. I'm back on vervain," he confessed.

Damon pouted at that, looking disappointed and a little hurt. "Why?"

Ric felt bad at that look even though he knew he had no reason to. "Because Klaus is compelling people to stand in front of cars." Then he added, "It has nothing to do with you, Damon."

Damon looked somewhat mollified. "Fucking Klaus," he said. "He's really cramping my style."

Ric smiled a little at that. "I can get you some blood from downstairs," he offered.

Damon reached out his fingers to trail down Ric's chest. "I can wait."

But as much as Damon was sounding like himself, he was still lying there weakly. "I'm going to get you some blood," Ric said decisively. "You need it." He bent over and kissed Damon lightly before slipping out of bed before the vampire could object.

Ric padded down the stairs to the Salvatore basement, thinking about the intoxicating taste of Damon and the feel of his lips. He had missed kissing Damon, and he grinned at the thought that it wouldn't take long before Damon had his strength back and they could move on to even more fun activities. Next, he headed back up to the kitchen to microwave a glass of blood, figuring that Damon would prefer that to a cold, sterile blood bag. Maybe he would bring his lover a glass of bourbon while he was at it – it might not be medically recommended for an injured vampire, but he was pretty sure that Damon would always appreciate a drink. Ric was arranging one glass of blood and two glasses of bourbon on a serving tray when Elena walked into the room.

"I thought I heard someone in here," she said. "How's Damon? Is he better?"

"He's better," Ric affirmed. He suddenly felt bad that he hadn't been doing more to keep Elena updated on Damon's condition. It was early evening, and he had assumed that the girls had all gone home, but he should have known that Elena wouldn't leave without confirming that Damon was going to be okay. "He's not on his feet yet, but he's awake."

"Can I see him?" Elena looked hopefully at Ric.

"Sure," Ric replied after a slight hesitation. He couldn't come up with any valid reason to deny her request. Elena and Damon were close in their own way, even if they had a complicated and sometimes tense relationship. But in truth Ric wanted to keep Damon to himself right now. There was a kind of intimacy that had been established, or re-established, between them, and he didn't want Elena to intrude. But he couldn't exactly explain that to his quasi-step-daughter, so he let Elena follow him back up the stairs. He knew that Damon would hear the extra set of footsteps, but he felt the need to say something to warn Damon anyway, let him know who his second visitor was. "Just a short visit, Elena," he said, trying to muster the authority that he supposedly had as teacher and guardian. "Damon still needs to rest."

Elena shot him an annoyed look. "I promise not to wear him out," she said with a slight roll of her eyes.

Ric opened the door to Damon's room and gestured Elena in ahead of him. He watched as Damon sat up, wincing as if the movement hurt him, and had to physically stop himself from rushing over to push Damon back down to the bed to rest. He tried to look at the bright side – that was the most he had seen Damon move yet.

Elena didn't seem to have noticed that it had hurt Damon to sit up, and she rushed over to the bed with an enthusiastic little cry. "Damon! You're okay." She wrapped her arms around the vampire in a hug, and after a moment of hesitation Damon returned the hug, albeit slightly awkwardly. Ric hid a grin, secretly pleased that he was the only one who got to see Damon's sensual side. Damon only liked to touch people on his own terms – or when things were clearly leading to sex. Or after sex, Ric thought with another little smile to himself.

As Elena continued to clutch Damon, the vampire met Ric's eyes above Elena's head with a look very clearly said "a little help here." Ric thought about leaving Damon to extricate himself – it could be entertaining, after all, but Damon had almost died, so he took pity on the vampire. "Okay, Elena," he said. "I don't think he can breathe."

"He doesn't need to breathe," Elena countered, but she released her hold on Damon and pulled back.

Damon looked slightly relieved. "Okay, what's the new crisis?" he asked.

Elena looked worried at that. "What are you talking about, Damon?"

Damon smirked. "Everyone is so glad to see me awake. I figure that means there's a new crisis that you need me to solve."

Elena shook her head. "You're my friend, Damon. That's why I'm glad to see you awake." After a moment she added, "We were all worried about you."

Damon still looked skeptical, so Alaric chimed in. "_You_ were the crisis, Damon," he explained. "Although I'm sure another one will turn up by tomorrow."

"Huh," was all Damon said to that.

Ric turned to Elena. "Okay, time to let him get some rest," he said.

"Yes, Mr. Saltzman," Elena said cheekily. She looked much more cheerful now that she had confirmed that Damon was not going to die today. "I'll just text everyone and let them know that you're okay," she told Damon.

Damon rolled his eyes. "Just tell them that they don't need to confirm it in person," he said. "I don't need a parade of visitors like some sort of dying grandparent."

"Wouldn't you be more like a great-great-grandparent?" Ric couldn't resist saying.

Elena laughed at that. "He's right, you know. Maybe even great-great-great," she threw over her shoulder as she left the room.

Damon glared at Ric once they were alone, although his blue eyes danced with amusement. "Old age jokes will not get you any," he said. He took the glass of blood that Ric handed him and quickly drank it.

Ric watched him closely. "I'm not sure how you think you're going to solve any crises when you can't even stand," he said.

Damon looked at him ruefully as he reached, slowly and stiffly, to put the empty glass of blood on the nightstand. "I . . . might be able to stand," he argued weakly.

"Yeah, that's convincing," Ric replied with a raised eyebrow. He handed Damon one of the glasses of bourbon and picked up his own. Damon sipped his drink more slowly than usual, clearly appreciating the taste, and Ric had the sudden thought that, for all he was putting on a good show of nonchalance, Damon was well aware of just how close he had come to dying for good that day.

They finished their drinks in companionable silence, and when they were done, Ric moved all the glasses away from the bed. "Now we're both going to get some rest," he said as he pulled his shirt off over his head.

Damon was watching him with unabashed hunger in his eyes. "How is you getting naked going to lead to rest?" the vampire asked teasingly.

Ric knew he was blushing, but he forced himself to unfasten his jeans without flinching. "I'm not getting naked," he clarified. "And there's plenty of room in that big bed." In truth, he was more than a little gratified by Damon's obvious appreciation of his body, but it wasn't time to act on that desire just yet when Damon couldn't even move. They would have plenty of time later. Hell, tomorrow.

"It is a _big_ bed," Damon echoed, somehow giving the phrase an entirely different connotation than Alaric had intended, as Ric finished stripping down to his boxers.

Ric rolled his eyes at that and moved to the other side of the bed from Damon. He climbed in and settled himself, trying to pretend he wasn't waiting to see what Damon would do next. There was a brief pause where Alaric wondered if they might actually end up sleeping on opposite sides of the bed, but then Damon scooted closer to him. Ric kept quiet, obeying the unspoken rules of their relationship, as Damon nestled against him.

Just like earlier that night, Alaric couldn't help but immediately feel like this was right. This was where they both belonged. Damon was prickly, mercurial, sometimes flat-out crazy – and he was exactly what Alaric wanted. Ric just wished he thought he could trust Damon again. "You're not the only one who's scared, Damon," he said quietly. He knew Damon had heard him when he felt the vampire's body tense slightly against his, but Damon didn't say anything and Alaric felt him gradually relax. A few minutes later, he realized that Damon was asleep again.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** _It took me a little while to get the ending the way I wanted on this one, but here it is. I hope you like it!_**  
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**Chapter 4**

Alaric woke up to find Damon half draped over him, his head on Alaric's chest and their legs tangled together. Morning light stole into the room around the curtains, but Damon was still fast asleep, apparently still feeling the effects from his ordeal with Klaus. Normally, Damon was the one to wake Alaric up every time they spent the night together. He had explained that vampires needed much less sleep than humans, but Ric sometimes suspected that Damon didn't need sleep at all, just sex, blood, and alcohol. This morning, though, Damon clearly needed sleep, and Ric was content to lie there, reveling in the feel of Damon's body against his own. He tried to let that feeling block out his fears about resuming a relationship with Damon. His body was all for this plan to start things up again – that was obvious every time Damon shifted slightly in his sleep – but his mind was still torn between hope and reservations.

It wasn't just Damon's perfect body or the intense sexual chemistry between them that had drawn Ric in, of course. Damon was crazy smart, with an endless stream of witty comments and clever allusions along with a restless mind that was always working on at least one scheme. And Ric had always been attracted to smart. Damon could also make him laugh in just about any situation, which was a definite plus with the way their lives really did bounce from one crisis to another. Damon could laugh at himself, too, regularly turning his wit on his own foibles in a self-deprecating way that had convinced Ric that he wasn't really as arrogant as he pretended to be. And over the months they'd known each other, Ric had learned that Damon had read everything, in addition to living through more than a century and a half of history. He was pretty sure that they would never run out of things to talk about.

But a little voice in Ric's head was still saying that this was a bad idea, telling him that he couldn't trust Damon. He was certain now that Damon regretted what he had done. The question was whether that was enough. You can't love a vampire, that voice said, not really. Tell him you've changed your mind; he'll understand. But Ric thought of the look of hope in Damon's blue eyes when Ric had said they could try again and the way Damon was settled against him so trustingly in his sleep. Damon might understand, but it would break his heart. Ric would be doing to Damon what Katherine had done – telling him that he wasn't enough, wasn't worth loving. And he couldn't do that. He had never thought of Damon Salvatore as insecure – to do so went against everything Damon projected to the world – but Damon had let him see past that façade to inside where he was scared and lonely. Damon had waited a century and a half for someone to choose him. Ric didn't think he could live with himself if he didn't give Damon another chance. Although maybe they should talk about things first, take things slowly. . . .

Ric's mind was still churning way too actively for what should have been a leisurely morning in bed when Damon stirred and opened his eyes. He looked thoroughly relaxed as his blue eyes met Ric's and he smiled. "Morning," Damon murmured. His voice was husky from sleep and even sexier than usual, and Ric's body reacted immediately. Damon's smile became hungrier and more predatory as he heard Ric's heart rate accelerate, maybe even felt him begin to harden.

"Morning," Ric replied. He tried to sound calm, wishing that Damon's heightened vampire senses didn't pick up his every physical reaction. "How are you feeling?"

"Horny," Damon said, his grin widening into a smirk as his gaze trailed over Ric. "Just like you." He slid up Ric's body, and his lips teased at Ric's lower lip. A moment later his tongue was demanding entrance that Ric granted after a slight hesitation. He had fucking missed this, he thought as Damon hungrily plundered his mouth. Damon finally broke away to let Ric breathe, but he only turned his attention to one of the most sensitive spots on Ric's neck. Damon clearly hadn't forgotten how exactly to turn Ric on.

Ric's mind was spinning with lust, but he tried half-heartedly to push Damon away from where the vampire was nuzzling his neck. There was more to be said before they went any further. "If we're going to do this again, we need ground rules," he said, trying to sound firm.

"Hmm, ground rules. Okay." Damon didn't sound like he was exactly paying attention as he went right back to kissing and teasing Alaric's body. He slid his hand down Ric's chest and over his abs even as he continued to place kisses along his neck.

"Damon," Ric began, then, "Oh . . ." as Damon's hand moved south and caressed him through his boxers. He held onto his train of thought with difficulty. "Fuck, Damon. Stop for a second. Are you even listening to me?"

Damon did at least pause at that, looking at Ric with blue eyes dark with desire. "Yep. I said okay."

Ric rolled his eyes. "We have to talk about what the ground rules _are_, Damon," he said. Sometimes Damon seemed willfully clueless. He barreled on before Damon could distract him again. "First, no killing. If you get angry at me, we _talk_ about it."

Damon nodded too quickly. "Okay. No killing. Lots of talking." Damon dropped his head and began to run his tongue over Ric's hard nipple.

As much as he didn't want to, Ric shoved at Damon's head, pushing him away. "This is serious, Damon," he said.

Damon rolled his eyes, but he looked a bit more engaged as he shifted to lie on his side on the bed, still only inches away from Ric. He met Ric's gaze, and his voice took on a slightly whiny tone as he spoke. "I said okay. No killing. You took too long to wake up the last time, anyway." He paused and cocked his head, looking at Ric in a way that made the teacher slightly nervous. "I want to set a ground rule, too," Damon declared mischievously. "Lots and lots of sex."

Ric laughed in spite of himself. Sometimes Damon seemed to be the emotional age of one of his students, but somehow the vampire managed to make even that endearing. He pretended to consider Damon's proposal. "Okay," he finally said, feigning reluctance. "I agree to your ground rule."

"So we're good then?" Damon looked like he could hardly wait to pounce on Ric again.

"One more thing," Ric said, with reluctance this time. He wasn't sure he should bring this up, but if they were laying everything out on the table, then this was the time. "I won't ask you to stop flirting with everyone. . . ." Damon gave him a look that said that was a good thing because it wasn't going to happen. "But I need you to dial back the flirting with Elena." Ric watched Damon carefully, not sure how this particular ground rule was going to be received. It might be good that they had already agreed on no killing.

"It distracts her from being all pouty and preachy," Damon argued. "I'm just trying to be nice to her. One mean brother at a time."

Alaric wasn't ready to give in on this one. "She's eighteen, and she's lonely right now. She takes it seriously." He was well aware that Elena had developed a crush on Damon. He couldn't exactly blame her, but she was practically his step-daughter. It was weird and inappropriate. Unless, of course, Damon still had feelings for her, in which case Ric needed to be the adult and get out of this situation now before it got any uglier.

Damon looked hurt. "I'm not interested in Elena," he said. "Eighteen is a _little_ young for me, plus she's Stefan's girl. I'm not going there again. Even I'm not that masochistic."

"I know you had feelings for her, Damon," Ric said, pushing forward despite a little voice that said he should leave well enough alone. He used the past tense, hoping that it was accurate and that Damon had moved on.

"Left over Katherine-feelings. Transference and all that crap," Damon answered. He met Ric's eyes unhesitatingly. "I've found something better now."

Ric smiled at that. "You'd better mean me," he half-teased. Damon had an unusually sincere look in his blue eyes, and Ric felt his heart skip a beat. Maybe they could actually make this work.

"You. This," Damon answered. His mouth claimed Ric's for another kiss, and Ric kissed him back fervently. Damon's hands returned to their exploration of Ric's body, and Ric moaned at his touch. A moment later, Damon pulled back, however. "I won't flirt with Elena if you don't flirt with the slut-doctor-chick," he said.

Ric almost groaned. Now he was the one who was ready to be done with talking, although he was more than happy to agree to that deal. Actually, he was pretty amused that Damon was still hung up on Meredith Fell. His vampire lover really was jealous. "Fine," he agreed. "You stop flirting with Elena, and I won't flirt with Meredith."

"Good," Damon said. "I don't like her. There's something off about that woman."

Ric just shook his head. "Now can we get on with this?"

Damon grinned. "Hell, yes. It's about time." He claimed another kiss, and his hands trailed back down Ric's body until they reached his boxers. Damon tugged lightly at the fabric, and Ric obliged him by raising his hips so that Damon could pull them off. With one quick movement, Damon had his own sweats off, too, so that they were both finally naked. Then, without any warning, Damon flipped their positions to situate Ric on top. The vampire cocked his head and gave Ric a teasing little smile. "I'm still weak, you know. I think you should take advantage of me," he said huskily.

Ric's body reacted immediately to those words, but he froze for a moment, surprised that Damon wanted him on top right now and worried suddenly that Damon actually was still feeling weak. Damon rolled his eyes at Ric's expression. "It's called flirting, Ric," he said. "Relax. It's not like we haven't done this before."

"I just . . ." Ric started and then stopped. "Never mind." There was no reason to spoil this moment. Damon was fine. It had surprised him the first few times, but he knew perfectly well by now that Damon liked to be on the bottom at least as often as not. And he should _definitely _not be complaining about that because topping Damon Salvatore . . . well, he was pretty sure that there was no feeling like it in the world. But he realized that seeing Damon bloody and unconscious and nearly dead had shaken him up more than he wanted to admit.

He saw worry flash in Damon's blue eyes as he hesitated, and he shook off all his morbid thoughts. He smiled and pinned Damon's hands above his head to the bed, getting back in the spirit of things. "So you want me to take advantage of you?" he asked, not even waiting for an answer before starting his exploration of Damon's body. Minutes later he was buried deep inside Damon, and fuck but he had missed this.

Ric knew he wasn't going to last long, and sure enough he was coming hard after just a few thrusts. Luckily, Damon was right there with him, and he had the exquisite experience of watching Damon fall apart completely under his touch. A moment later they had collapsed on the bed together, bodies slick with sweat and other fluids. "Sorry, that was quick," Ric murmured when he could catch his breath. He was a bit embarrassed; it was a good thing this wasn't their first time together. At least Damon knew he usually lasted longer than that. And Damon had only himself to blame anyway since he had been steadily teasing Ric since they woke up.

Damon didn't seem upset, however. "You missed me," he purred with a look that was much more sated cat-that-ate-the-canary than disappointed lover. In fact, Ric thought that Damon looked suitably debauched, with his lips pink and swollen, his hair wild, and his blue eyes just slightly dazed and heavy-lidded.

"Yeah, well . . ." Ric began, trying for a suitable comeback and finding nothing in his own sex-addled brain. "Yeah," he conceded. To cover up his own lack of eloquence, he dropped his head to lick cum from Damon's perfectly sculpted chest and abs, and the vampire arched off the bed slightly at his touch. Ric grinned as he saw tangible evidence that Damon was ready for another round. There were definite advantages to a vampire lover, like stamina and flexibility and strength. Not to mention the biting. He was going to have to think about whether he wanted to keep drinking vervain or just hide it in his shoes or something, he thought suddenly.

A moment later Ric found himself underneath Damon as the vampire took charge. He moaned out his lover's name as Damon's tongue teased him. "Lots and lots of sex," Damon declared happily.

Ric couldn't help the grin on his own face. "That's the agreement," he said. Damon's blue eyes practically shown, bright with rare happiness, as he looked up briefly before resuming his ministrations to Ric's body, and Ric couldn't help but feel his reservations disappearing under Damon's touch. It might be fucked up, but he wanted this. He wanted Damon. He had the sudden thought that maybe he actually owed Klaus for forcing him to confront his feelings for Damon, but he let that thought go as Damon kissed him again.

•••••

**A/N: **_And that's it for this little story unless I come up with a plot that demands to be written. I'm kind of sick of Klaus-related plots, so that seems unlikely (plus I currently have too many other stories in need of attention). I'm not sick of Damon-Alaric, though, so I may well write this pairing again or even continue the little show-based one-shot that I wrote recently. Thanks again for reading and reviewing!_


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